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🇨🇷  Retiring in Costa Rica from New Zealand

What New Zealanders need to know: the visa, how your pensions are taxed, what to do before you leave and every year after.

By the retireacross editorial team · Last reviewed

Visa for New Zealanders

Check the visa-free stay for your passport with the consulate before a trial stay. To live there you need a residence route:

  • Pensionado (retiree) residence: income from 1,000 USD a month. Official page
  • Rentista (passive income) residence: income from 2,500 USD a month or savings from 60,000 USD. Official page

Check your figures in the visa checker

Sources: CRIE: Costa Rica residency requirements (2026) (checked 2026-10-22) · AG Legal: residency in Costa Rica in 2026 (checked 2026-10-22) · Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (checked 2026-10-22)

How your pensions are taxed

No tax treaty between New Zealand and Costa Rica: New Zealand can keep taxing New Zealand-sourced income (and you stay tax resident while you keep a permanent place of abode there); Costa Rica does not tax most foreign pensions (see its tax rules), so in practice only New Zealand taxes them.

  • State pensions: taxable in the paying country.
  • Private pensions: possibly taxed in both countries, without treaty relief.

Sources: Inland Revenue Tax Policy: New Zealand tax treaties (checked 2026-10-26)

New Zealand: You stay New Zealand tax resident while you keep a permanent place of abode there (a home you go back to), even if you are away more than 325 days; NZ Super paid abroad under general portability is paid gross. Official page

Costa Rica's own rules: Costa Rica taxes only Costa Rican-source income, so foreign pensions and investment income are generally not taxed. A bill filed in September 2026 would tax residents' foreign passive income at 15%: it is not law. Homes above a construction value threshold pay a yearly solidarity (luxury home) tax; there is no inheritance tax.

Before you leave New Zealand

  1. Check NZ Super before you go (New Zealand): To get NZ Super you must be ordinarily resident in New Zealand when you apply at 65, and meet the residence rule (10 to 20 years since age 20, rising with your birth date). If you plan to leave before 65, check how and when you can apply first. Official page
  2. Call International Services at least 6 weeks before leaving: NZ Super does not follow you automatically: apply to keep it going by calling Work and Income's International Services at least 6 weeks before you leave. It cannot be paid if you move to the United Kingdom. Official page

More for New Zealanders

Rules and figures change and we can make mistakes: confirm with the official source or a licensed advisor before acting.